Maria Rosanna Fossati - Robotics, intelligent machines, prosthetics… and humans

Editor's Notes

1. Bertold Meyer studied this phenomenon, and start talking about a new idea of evil cyborgs. Well, all this reflections, underline and confirm how Disability can be understood as a cultural issue, able to increase or decrease social inclusion, favour stereotypes and stigma. Moreover, in the design community, it is traditionally welcome the idea that “objects have their own life, [...] in the sense that they reinforce social practices just as social practices reinforce them” (Molotch 2005). Also Miller (1987) rightly argues that while we shape things, things are shaping us. These ideas let emerge and assume the consolidated bi-directional relation between individuals and objects/tools (prostheses included!).
2. And these issues are confirmed in Anthropology and Sociology literature, where disability is often perceived as a concrete form of otherness. The disabled people perceive themselves as “something else”, mutilated in relation to a normal standard. The Stereotype Content Model elicits this idea… In this diagram are represented two elements: (clic) the idea of “competence” perceived and (clic) the sensation of warmth. (clic) the disabled people group elicit traditionally disrespect for a perceived lack of competence and pity due to the presence of some kind of warmth. (clic) but what happens if some robotic prostheses influence this schematisation increasing the competence perceived and decrease the warmth?
3. The reflection passes on the idea of social sustainability, focusing on covering and finishing aspects as they are related to both aesthetics and hermeneutic issues. Indeed, the hand research team involves a designer - who is also a tester - to improve the finishing concept design by considering also its aesthetic and social impact. The integration of contaminations coming from the Design and Humanities in the research flow, is fundamental to explore the relationship between prosthetic appearance and social sustainability.
4. The reflection passes on the idea of social sustainability, focusing on covering and finishing aspects as they are related to both aesthetics and hermeneutic issues. Indeed, the hand research team involves a designer - who is also a tester - to improve the finishing concept design by considering also its aesthetic and social impact. The integration of contaminations coming from the Design and Humanities in the research flow, is fundamental to explore the relationship between prosthetic appearance and social sustainability.
5. In this framework, SoftHand Pro stands up for its lightness, and accessible market costs. These elements could generate a market demand (and relative positioning) that is not covered by any other product at the moment: a new idea of affordable high technology prosthetic hand. In terms of final price for the market, SoftHand Pro could be compared only with the MYO Hand - that has the majority of the market in Italy – but that is not comparable in terms of intrinsic technology. Moreover, SoftHand Pro has unique features such as robustness and soft and deformable fingers. Looking at this hands I started to reflect about the hand finishings, in terms of colors, shape, materials, human likeness…
6. In this framework, SoftHand Pro stands up for its lightness, and accessible market costs. These elements could generate a market demand (and relative positioning) that is not covered by any other product at the moment: a new idea of affordable high technology prosthetic hand. In terms of final price for the market, SoftHand Pro could be compared only with the MYO Hand - that has the majority of the market in Italy – but that is not comparable in terms of intrinsic technology. Moreover, SoftHand Pro has unique features such as robustness and soft and deformable fingers. Looking at this hands I started to reflect about the hand finishings, in terms of colors, shape, materials, human likeness…
7. Worldwide more and more often it’s possible to see different prostheses, that looks at superheroes, made out of Lego, objects that embody girls fantasy as a glitter gun, or decorative carters. But how is it possible to frame a state of the art to manage social acceptance, these raising issues about social sustainability?
8. Pullin - from a Design discipline point of view - point out two main design approaches: the realistic and the functional one. The first is defined through the focus on human likeness, through the use of materials such as PVC and silicone and colours similar to the human skin. The second, the functional one, has its priority in functionality beyond appearance
9. the state of art in upper limb prosthetic design can be divided in two different approaches: one oriented toward a mimetic, human-like design and another one that tends toward a non-mimetic design. It is possible to intend these tensions as opposing, as a dichotomy, as an issue that could be also managed by the design discipline TRA FORMA E FUNZIONE
10. The dichotomy between mimetic and non-mimetic approach seems to be partially overcome in prostheses for sport. Notorious examples are those such as the one worn by famous athletes as Oscar Pistorius or Aimee Mullins. In these kind of lower limb prostheses, design has found a form of conciliation between the formal aspects of technology (non-mimetic aspects) and the need of relation with the human body and its proportions (mimetic aspects). These prostheses transform the user’s figure substituting the lower limb full mass with an elegant shapely gesture. ELEGANZA DEL GESTO FORMALE …CHE NASCE DALLA FUNZIONE…
11. io direi che si potrebbe riassume la differenza di DNA con questa semplice immagine. le differenze tra ingegneri e designer interpretate dagli ingegneri
12. però non è vero che i designer sono tutto forma fine a se stessa ed ornamento! anzi, io sono cresciuta tra gli architetti, dove il processo progettuale poteva nascere solo da un brief definito che comprendesse tutti i vincoli, ed un mio maestro ripeteva sempre che senza nessun vincolo non si fa neppure la marmellata. il mantra spirituale dei progettisti moderni è quindi che la forma debba seguire inesorabilmente la funzione alla ricerca di un equilibrio tra questi due elementi fondamentali: FORMA E FUNZIONE ovvero Arte e Scienza
13. The SoftHand Pro comes directly from the industrial SofHand, that is a simple, robust and effective robot hand, which combines the modern technology of soft robotics with a bio-inspired joint design. It uses the neuromorphic principle of sensory motor synergies, and is able to achieve an adaptable and gentle grasp, together with advanced manipulation capabilities. Embodied intelligence
14. But also studies coming from other disciplines contribute in defining this state of the art. Mori, in the Seventies, proposed a model of relation between human likeness and people’s comfort level: in general, more human-looking artefacts are perceived as more agreeable, but this trend interrupts until testers experience artefacts that look so similar to humans that make them appear eerie, creepy. How is possible to see, he consideedr also prosthetic hands.
15. ed ecco quindi che con queste convinzioni inizio uno studio sulle funzionalità della mano. lo potremmo definire uno studio ergonomico, creato per la definizione di design guidelines per la finitura della mano. la mano attualmente infatti è rivestita totalmente da un guanto estetico, MIMETICO, quella che indosso, mentre nell'immagine è un guanto funzionale. la mia domanda iniziale è stata: quale sarebbe la "pelle" di questa splendida mano se non volessimo perseguire questo approccio mimetico ed antropomorfo? L'ispirazione viene dal fatto che le prese della SoftHand alcune volte non si presentano come antropomorfe... Gaudì maniglia…battlò?? Mettere logo wiki